Rubbed up against: Adam West

I was such a great fan of the Batman TV
show when I was a kid. When I found out
that TV's Adam West was coming to my home
town, I was thrilled. I didn't stop nagging
my parents until they agreed to take me to
see him. Luckily, he was appearing at an auto
show, otherwise my dad wouldn't have had any
inclination to take me to see him.

It was pretty gay.

I was only about 8, but it seemed like there
must have been hundreds of people there.
Mr. West came out in a costume that was
cheap and ripped. He made a joke about
running into Catwoman and she scratched him
and that's why his costume was ripped. Nobody
laughed and I was embarrassed for my hero ...
for about a split second.

For it was then that my dad, who had no intention
of hanging around any longer than necessary, grabbed
me from behind under the arms and practically three
me up on the stage. I'm lucky I didn't piss my pants.

"What's your name citizen?"
"Greg," I squeaked.
"There you go," said Adam West and then he shook
my hand as he handed me a signed photo similar to
the one above.

You know, it's not often that one gets to have
contact with one's heroes. I have always found
it a bit disappointing. No one could ever live
up to our expectations. One year, Adam West is
on a hit TV show then the next he's doing a car
show in Omaha? That's rough and it isn't easy to
watch either.

Could anyone live up to our expectations? I bet
you could run into Jesus and feel like, "Hmmm,
I thought he'd be a little less, you know, of
a hippie."

You want to talk about disappointment, I'll have to
tell you about the time I interviewed Dennis Miller.